Betting Brands

The Euros are here. Millions of people’s heads have turned from all over the globe to France where the tournament is being held. That many eyes on one tournament, in one place, inevitably means that brands are competing for the attention of punters from all over the globe.

But how do people stand out from the crowd? Here’s a look at some of our favourite Football PR moments from over the years:

THE SWITCH

Ok, ok – not strictly a PR stunt – but this is the ad that got us all thinking about our favourite football PR and marketing moments. Christiano Ronaldo, arguably the world’s best footballer, stars in a 6 minute epic from Nike. Words can barely do this advert justice, so sit back and enjoy:

What if you had the perfect excuse to watch the UEFA Champions League without your girlfriend?

That’s the setup for Heineken’s latest football stunt.

A week before the UEFA Champions League Final in Milan, the beer brand targeted a handful of blokes out at dinner in São Paulo with their girlfriends.

As the guys open their menus they discover an enticing proposition…

ORANGE SPONSORS YOU

As the Euros crept ever closer brands were starting to activate their campaigns. Whether it’s Paddy Power’s not-so-subtle dig at Scotland’s failure to qualify or Carlsberg’s free ticket pop-ups, there is nowhere to hide. But these are smaller scaled campaigns compared to the one underway by Orange.

The telecoms provider is an official sponsor of Euro 2016 and has partnered with the City of Paris to take over one of its most famous landmarks…

The ‘Orange Sponsors You’ campaign is looking to put the fans back in the spotlight; highlighting the teams that are best supported during the tournament by lighting the Eiffel Tower in that nation’s colours. Orange will be monitoring social trends throughout each day and, 10 minutes after the final game on each day, the best supported team will adorn the famous monument. Individual fans, too, are being recognised by photographers on the hunt for the best fans throughout the tournament.

The campaign has a great ad running alongside it featuring one of French football’s most famous sons:

With all the wealth in football it’s a great move from Orange to recognise those that truly make football the incredible spectacle it can be. There will be a lot more campaigns from companies looking to capitalise on Euro 2016, but they’ll have to be pretty good to top this effort.

Nicklas Bendtner’s Pants

One of the most (in)famous betting PR stunts was, unsurprisingly, from Paddy Power. Nicklas Bendtner, the man who once claimed he was up there alongside Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo at the top of the men’s game, celebrated in an unusual way when he scored against Portugal for Denmark.

Sprinting away following his strike he pulled his shorts down, lifted his shirt up to reveal a pair of green ‘Paddy Power’ branded pants. He was fined an exorbitant amount of money for the stunt which, he claimed, was just a demonstration of his lucky pants.

The stunt achieved global coverage and, despite the whopping fine of £80k, was a massive success.

‘In Case of Emergency’

The David Moyes reign at the top of Old Trafford was an ill-fated one. Despite the mediocre results and dodgy signing it didgive us two entries in our favourite Football related PR stunts.

The first, from Paddy Power, was to install a glass box outside of Old Trafford containing Sir Alex Ferguson (or a statue that looked a whole lot like him.) The messaging, simple but effective, made this campaign a success as the sign read “In case of emergency break glass.”

How the United fans wish that was still an option.

Moyes’ Grim Reaper

The second of the David Moyes stunts is also from Paddy Power. As his reign was coming to an end sports correspondents all over the country said it was like a spectre was following him around and that he was “on borrowed time” in the job.

Paddy Power, never ones to miss a trick, hired a chap to dress as a Grim Reaper and sit near the dug out as Moyes was managing the lads on the pitch. The pictures are sensational and despite the chap being escorted from the ground, it was a great moment and a stroke of genius from the team.

David Ginola For President

In January of 2015 Paddy Power offered David Ginola, of Spurs and Newcastle fame (and Villa for a bit), £250,000 to run for the FIFA presidency. At the time Sepp Blatter sat atop the world game, untouchable, but maybe the charisma of the French maestro could sway the voting body to install him.

They didn’t, of course, as it transpired corruption was rife throughout FIFA and many of the people at the top of the game have since been removed from their position and a massive investigation has begun.

Maybe there’s a chance for David yet?

PRINGLES AND THE GIANT BOOT

A sure fire winner in the PR world is making something massive out of your product. Pringles did just that for the World Cup in Brazil; a giant football boot made out of Pringles tubes. To add a Brazilian twist they even threw in a Brazilian model.

DAVE’S FOOTY HEROES

At the other end of the spectrum we see some brands making things that are incredibly small for their stunts. That’s what Dave did to promote the launch of ‘England’s Top 19 Footy Heroes’; England players faces made out of Brazil nuts:

ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP SUCCESS FORMULA

A favourite in the office. Paddy Power (a name that’s cropped up once or twice in this list so far) tasked the world’s greatest physicist with working out just how England can win something. The result was a great video and incredible coverage.

FAMOUS FACES ON MELONS

Another stunt, another carving. This time we saw the faces of several top footballing stars carved onto watermelons that were displayed in Sao Paulo before the start of the World Cup in Brazil. (It’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar if it wasn’t clear from the pictures…

EMIRATES SAFETY VIDEO

Emirates Airline, a proud sponsor of football throughout the world, staged a pre-game safety drill in the middle of the pitch at Hamburg’s home ground Volkparkstadion in front of 57,000 fans.

Using some of their cabin crew, donned in the now iconic Emirates attire, they staged a pre-flight safety check and were met with quizzical glances from the baying fans.

That’s before the group of women ended the safety check and began showing off their incredible ball skills. Mouths opened, jaws dropped and cheers roared as they demonstrated close control that would many of us to shame. They then lined the balls up on the edge of the box before slamming home past the goalkeeper to riotous applause from the assembled crowd.

Football, again, proving it’s the greatest sport in the world. Oh, and the stunt was pretty good too!

THE DILEMMA

An email arrived in my inbox; “This is friggin awesome” with a YouTube link. Nothing else; no brand, no content, nothing. I clicked. I watched. A tear welled up, it instantly went to everyone in the office.

Heineken, long time creators of great ads, have outdone themselves once again. They looked into my mind and drew up a blueprint of what would appeal to me; bromance? Check. Football? Check. Beer? Sure. All of that, sprinkled with the Champions League music, and we are onto a winner:

There’s not much else to say about this; Heineken have tapped into everything that makes an ad great – it even has a happy ending!

EDEN HAZARD

This one pains me as a Chelsea fan. Semi-finals day. Chelsea are trailing to Swansea with time ticking away. The ball rolls out of play and the Swansea ballboy collapses onto the ball to protect it from Eden Hazard who, understandably, is in a rush to get the game moving again. So he kicks the ball out from under the lad, who then goes down doing his best impression of a professional footballer. Hazard was sent off and brands cashed in:

There are hundreds more from brands both big and small, and we obviously couldn’t cover them all here. So if you have favourites, or ones you think should have made the run down, then let us know! Now, get out there and watch England vs Wales with the rest of us.

The biggest creative names in marketing, media, and technology convened in France this week to attend the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a weeklong event in its 62nd year.

92 countries submitted a record 40,133 awards entries this year into dozens of creative categories including PR, experiential, digital, innovation, outdoor and creative effectiveness.

There were 1962 entries just for PR alone (though many of these great pieces of creative work wouldn’t be seen as ‘PR campaigns’ if measured by the parameters of most other PR gong shows but that’s a whole other story)

We sifted through the full nominations list to bring you 60 of our favourite campaigns.

In an attempt to get gamers to quit smoking, Swedish organisation A Non Smoking Generation created an advice “clinic” to target the youth directly inside the gaming environment of Minecraft.

An innovative way to target kids without deploying the predictable shock tactics.

Airbnb: Sydney Mardi Gras

Airbnb gace one lucky gay couple the chance to not just see the parade but to be in the parade.

The brand created a special home ‘float’ for the Sydney Mardi Gras for the competition winners to live in complete with balcony, picket fence and beer on tap.

Air France: Luxury taken to new heights

Air France unveiled the all new La Premiere Suite – the epitome of luxury air travel.

For the Singapore launch the airline transformed a pod on the Singapore Flyer – the largest observation wheel in Asia into the Le Premiere Suite giving the public and media a chance to experience the style and comfort of travel 165 metres above the city skyline.

With some of the world’s best tennis players coming to Auckland, New Zealand, sponsor ASB fun unleashed some adorable pups – ‘the world’s best ball boys’.

Banco De Chile: The Group of Death

In the 2014 World Cup Chile ended up in the ‘group of death’ alongside the World Champions and runners up from 2010.

To help lift the nation’s spirits, Banco de Chile, the official sponsors in Chile, embarked on a mission to lift the nation’s spirits.

They did this via the only group of Chilean people who had ever defied death – gathering the 33 miners who got trapped underground at San Jose to reconvene at the very same spot for a stirring and emotional motivational speech.

Banplus: The Unforgettable Account

In Venezuela the numbers of patients with Alzheimers disease increases every year. But donations don’t. One of the reasons is that the people who most want to contribute don’t remember how to.

Step in Banpuls (a bank in Venezuela) who created the world’s first unforgettable bank account to help the donation process along.

The bank had to defy its own tech systems in order to encode a number consisting only of zeros.

In just a few weeks the unforgettable account helped raise more money than any campaign in the history of the foundation.

Bartendr – World’s First Bar For Pregnant Women

Bartrendr a social app that lets you compare bars wanted to launch in the most crowded media metropolis in the world – New York City.

Instead of promoting the app they promoted the launch of an fake bar called GESTATIONS – New York’s first bar for pregnant women.

The shock strategy worked promoting 100,000+ app downloads and millions of media impressions.

BBC Worldwide: #BigStig

Disclaimer: We read 1900 award entries to pull this list together so we are allowed to include 4 of our own entries OK!

The American renegade spirit. It does what is wants. It loves bikes. And bacon.

Black Label Bacon crafted the world’s first motorbike fuelled by bacon grease, took a road trip across America and made a documentary about it.

The best part? Even, the bike’s fumes smell like bacon.

Burger King: The Proud Whopper

Burger King made a bold proclamation in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community with the launch of a specially packaged burger.

The “Be Your Way” project was created in San Francisco, where a limited edition “Proud Whopper” burger was added to the menu to coincide with the city’s annual Pride festival.

Customers who ordered the “Proud Whopper” found that the burger was the same as a classic Whooper, but came wrapped in a rainbow-colored wrapper with the inscription, “We are all the same inside.”

Crocs: Mid-Air Shoe Store

Shoemaker Crocs showed off their new lightweight sneakers with a drone store.

Shoppers were able to select a pair of shoes on an tablet screen and attempt – with the help of a magnet – to grab hold of a pair and carry them back to a waiting basket.

Dominos – Vibes – A night to feel the music

Dominos Pizza created ‘Vibes’ – a fully integrated concert for the deaf as part of their new tagline: ‘oh yes we did’.

Special wooden floors were built to enhance vibrations, calibrated speakers at floor level, balloons and beach balls transmitted vibrations alongside special bracelets and a wall projecting live feeds. Russell Harvard interpreted the live performances as the bands played.

For 70% of attendees it was their first ever concert experience and their delight was shared across social platforms. The idea will soon be rolled out across the world.

Dolmio: Pepper Hacker

In order to promote conversation during family mealtimes pasta sauce brand Dolmio invented a pepper grinder that blocks wifi while you use it.

The Dolmio Pepper Hacker was launched in Australia, where research has found that the average household owns around twelve communication devices. It is becoming more difficult to connect with family members during mealtimes due to the distraction of technology.

Dubai Police: Supercop Cars

Dubai’s police force were kitted out with a fleet of 190mph super cars to fight car crime and boost Dubai’s brand image along the way.

Exit-Deutschland: Nazis Against Nazis

Neo-Nazis gathered in a small German town found themselves the target of an anti-fascist prank this week when they inadvertently raised €10,000 for an anti-extremist organisation.

Without the marchers’ knowledge, local residents and businesses sponsored the 250 participants of the march. For every metre they walked, €10 went to a programme called EXIT Deutschland, which helps people escape extremist groups.

The campaign used real LIVE footage from one of Farm Pride’s free range farms in Central Victoria and displayed the video feed (with nothing to hide) on Melbourne’s biggest digital poster site.

Florida International University: Miss Hivaria

Florida University wanted to raise awareness of HIV amongst its students.

Knowing that the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant was taking place on campus they created a fake Mis Universe Contestant – Miss HIVARIA.

The fake contestant was the voice of the people of Hivaria, a fictitious country that represented the world’s HIV population.

The model featured widely in media interviews leading to an increase of 352% in HIV testing amongst students.

Fox Poland: Do Something Good Before you Become A Zombie

Fox Poland launched their latest season of Walking Dead by teaming up with the organ donation foundation to redesign their membership cards – after all if you become a zombie then you won’t be needing your organs!

The quirky campaign resulted in 5000 new organ donor sign ups and a national news story tied to the series launch which smashed all expected targets.

Ikea: Experience The Power Of A Book Book

The home store launch their new catalogue by piggybacking media interest in the iPhone6 launch.

They also opened a B&B in store in partnership with Airbnb.

Johannesburg Salvation Army: How a Meaningless Dress became Meaningful

The South African brand of the Salvation Army hijacked the worldwide meme around #TheDress by staging a quick turnaround marketing campaign that refocused a frivolous debate in to a powerful discussion on domestic violence.

The real issue of being beaten ‘black and blue’ came to the fore in the campaign which was released just days before International Women’s Day.

Kagaome: Wearable Tomato

A Japanese vegetable juice company designed a ‘wearable robot’ that dispenses tomatoes for marathon runners to eat while on the go.

The barmy invention promotes the nutritional and fatigue beating qualities of the shiny red fruit.

KLM AIRLINES and AIRBNB

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the world’s first airline to partner with Airbnb offering Airbnb accommodation with every destination on the airline’s website.

The partnership was launched by creating a luxury loft style apartment on a retired passenger jet.

The lucky guests got to run free in 4,000-square foot space decked out with a master bedroom, seven bathrooms, a private cinema, two fully-equipped kitchens and even a play area for children.

Lego: Reborn Statues

When two statues of artists were stolen from Hungary’s Avenue of Artists and there was no money for their replacement, so Lego replaced the two busts with exact replicas, built out of Lego bricks.

McDonalds: Serving Hipsters since 2014

“What happens when you serve McDonald’s food to some experts and pretend it’s a new organic meal?” ask pranksters Sacha and Cedrique.

To answer this question they went to a organic food fair in Houten, Netherlands, armed with disguised McNuggets and Big Macs.

Mollie Biggane Melanoma Foundation: Free Killer Tan

Mollies fund boosted awareness of the dangers of melanoma on a tiny budget by creating a fake indoor tanning salon which offered customers a free ‘killer tan.’

Once inside the unsuspecting tanners discovered they were actually at their own funeral as the tanning bed transformed into a casket.

MSC Cruises: Shiphorn Choir

The cruise line MSC wanted to grab people’s attention during the world’s biggest port festival in Hamburg.

The horns aboard the ship were tweaked to play The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army with spectacular effect.

Oscar Mayer: Wake Up And Smell The Bacon

A meat company digitised America’s best loved smell – the scent of sizzling bacon by creating the worlds first branded alarm clock infused with a bacon scent delivery.

PAF.COM: Experiment Alone

Gambling brand PAF focus on games that require participants to play together.

They created an online TV series ‘Experiment Alone’ to prove that its ‘more fun when we play together.’

The core question – what would it feel like to experience something alone that you normally share with others?

The ultimate test featured Bob Dylan in concert and playing to his single biggest fan in an otherwise empty auditorium.

Paddy Power: Hawking Talking

Taylor Herring engaged the mathematical genius and theoretical physicist to lead a month long study delving into the science of England’s World Cup performances and the best (scientific) way to take a penalty.

Former Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch joined in the campaign by uploading a photo of herself ‘made-under’ to Instagram.

Quicksilver:True Suits

Quiksilver in Japan designed the True Wetsuit, a wetsuit that looks like an actual suit.

The True Wetsuit is made from neoprene and a stretchy “dryflight” fabric. There’s even a tie.

Red Cross Antwerp: A Disastrous Press Conference

The Belgian public were starting to take the Red Cross for granted so the company staged a unique press conference that would remind the nation of its importance.

The journalists would encounter a massive car pile up accident en route which had been specially built as the backdrop to the media event where the media were explicitly confronted with the importance of the work the Red Cross does.

Reebok Stockholm: Be More Human

In February, Sweden’s capital Stockholm underwent a major escalator meltdown across its entire subway system that lasted for weeks.

In the spirit of the brand’s new tagline ‘be more human’, Reebok engaged a local cross fit team equipped with nothing more than a sponsored t-shirt to help carry people, pets and luggage up the stairs.

The initiative cost less than £2k and reached 40% of the Swedish population

Samsung: SlideLiner

The Samsung SlideLiner gave Australian Rugby fans a chance to win a money-can’t-buy seat between the grandstand and the pitch during the 2014 Castrol Edge Rugby Championship.

The couch on rails was built to travel along the sidelines at speeds of up 20kph.

Samsung: S5 Pulse Challenge

Samsung Switzerland launched their S5 – the world’s first phone with a built in heart rate sensor by creating the ultimate challenge – keep your heart rate under 100bpm to win the phone!

Contestants were subsequently thrown into myriad scary situations in an attempt to stay cool and walk off with a S5.

States United To Prevent Gun Violence opens a “gun store” in NYC as a hidden camera social experiment to debunk safety myths.

Smart Car: The MONSTER-Smart

Witty campaign to launch the new smart car in Germany where the company tapped into fears that the new smart car would get bigger by releasing teaser videos and images that suggested the new version would in fact dwarf most 4 x 4’s and be the ‘biggest city car’ ever produced.

Cue lots of online chatter, headlines and engagement before Smart let everyone in on the, joke…

Smart: The Dancing Traffic Light

An interactive installation in Lisbon aimed to encourage pedestrians to wait until it’s safe to cross the road by making the traffic lights “dance” using motion capture technology.

Social Tees: Puppy Love On Tinder

Social Tees Animal Rescue hoped that some of the 10 million users browsing through Tinder daily looking for love will love fall in love with their dogs’ profiles instead and bring one home for adoption.

Sony: Underwater Store

To launch their latest underwater phone the Japanese electronics giant opened the Xperia Aquatech Store, the world’s first underwater store, at The World Islands off the coast of the Dubai.

SSU: Never Forget To Vote

Sweden’s Social Democratic Youth Organisation engaged an unlikely brand ambassador to remind younger voters to use their vote in the EP elections.

Rainer Hoess, the grandchild of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess fronted the asset rich campaign which included a film, a digital protest march and interviews.

The 48 year old found out the truth at school, when he was just 12 years old. He couldn’t understand why the school’s gardener, a Holocaust survivor, didn’t seem to like him, and a teacher told him the truth.

Today, Hoess, who sports a Star of David round his neck, is committed to fighting right-wing extremism.

SOS Children’s Villages Sweden: Guilt Trip Sunday

SOS Children’s Villages is a Swedish charity dedicated to helping worldwide children in need.

Their Mother’s Day campaign bought many of the key issues a little closer to home by engaging eight celebrity mums and their kids and staging pictures which imagined the celebrity children as they could have looked had they been born somewhere else, with no mother and without a chance.

Sport Clube Do Recife: Security Moms

Brazilian club Sport Club do Recife attempted to end supporter violence at the club’s home games in the most innovative way – by employing 50 mothers of football hooligans to act as stewards.

The mothers were trained by the club and patrolled the pitch in high-visibility vests bearing the words Seguranca Mae – Security mums.

Sportsbet: Three Little Bets with One Very Big Return

Australia is the world’s biggest betting nation and a hugely competitive environment for betting brands.

Sportsbet stole a march on the competition by engaging national cricket hero Sharne Warne to be the subject of three very silly bets – to take 50 paintball shots, to fight a professional kick boxer and to face his fear of spiders.

The result? A series of irresistible pictures and videos that were covered by every major TV channel in Australia.

Last year the company floated a 46m high Christ the Redeemer statue over Melbourne to promote their World Cup betting book.

Taxi Stockholm: Taxi Therapist

Cab drivers often have to listen to peoples issues and problems so Taxi Stcokholm jumped on this insight to position themselves as a brand that really cares about its customers.

Enter the Taxi Therapists – a new service which could be booked online where a qualified therapist sits with you for the duration of your journey!

The Book of Everyone: Three Pregnant Dads

How could a tiny American personalised gift company compete against the giants of the gift world in the run up to Mothers Day?

The 3 founders became the story when they decided to each wear 15kg pregnancy bellies day and night for a month in the run up to mothers day to honour motherhood.

The world followed as they blogged their stories at 3pregnantdads.com

Twingo Stiletto: The first High Heels made for driving

Renault was launching the latest TWINGO and decided to target a female audience, previewing the car at fashion events.

They created news around the launch by engaging top designer Luis Onofre to design and create the first stiletto especially designed to be comfortable and safe for driving.

Unicef teamed up with Asuncion toy stores to highlight the issue by staging toyshop window takeovers for one day only featuring ‘toys in mourning.’

The toys were dressed in black with the message ‘A baby changes your life; a death also. Join #zeropreventabledeaths

The campaign helped infant deaths decline by over 50%.

Possibly our favourite campaign of all we’ve listed here….

Unifrutti: BananArt

Chiquita bananas are an established brand in Japan but only rated 4th in terms of market share.

Cue a campaign that used bananas as a canvas for a series of amazing artworks which helped the brand notch up 1.2 million YouTube views and jump to third position.

Vauxhall: Pick Yourself Up

Artist Alex Chinneck teamed up with Vauxhall Motors for their project ‘Pick yourself up and pull yourself together’ which saw the new Corsa suspended 15 feet in the air while still attached to the road at London’s Southbank Centre.

Wendy’s New York: Boyz II Men Made Love to Your Tweets

Customers were so distraught when Wendy’s took their limited time only Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger off the menu that they took to Facebook and Twitter to beg for its return.

Wendy’s took their love torn testimonials and tuned them into a love song and video worthy of airplay, performed by R&B legends Boys II Men.

The sandwich is now permanently on the menu…

WWF Russia – Wild Tattoo

The WWF wanted to highlight the core issues facing wildlife to a younger audience.

They achieved this by engaging the best tattoo artists from around the world to create a series of unique animal designs featuring species that were on the verge of extinction.

A website was created where people could book a tattoo, make a donation or sign up for more information.

William Hill offering odds on a boy (evens) and a girl (8/11) with James (14/1) and Alice (2/1) leading the names

Two giant 3 metre high royal teddy bears have been created to celebrate the forthcoming royal birth.

Commuters and tourists in the Capital were left stunned as the 10ft furry duo were spotted touring London, visiting landmarks including Buckingham Palace and The Houses of Parliament. The bears, one boy and one girl, each sported a crown and tiara respectively, and bore the odds on whether Prince George would be welcoming a younger brother (evens) or sister (8/11) to the House of Windsor.

Britain’s biggest bookmaker, William Hill created the bears to celebrate the arrival of the second royal baby. The giant bears, which measure almost 5 metres tall when standing, were made from fur and cotton and took a team of sculptors and fabricators over two months to design, stuff and sew.

Aside from the sex of the new royal, the baby’s name is the subject of much conversation and William Hill have slashed the odds to 14/1 from 2/1 for the baby to be named Alice if it’s a girl and 14/1 for a boy named James.

William Hill spokesperson Rupert Adams comments: “We wanted to do something spectacular to show our excitement for the latest addition to the royal family. Royal baby fever has gripped the nation and punters are buzzing to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. The smart money is on a baby girl by the name of Alice born on the same day as her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth – April 21st.

These giant teddy bears should catch the eye of William, Kate and baby George as well as the customers who can now find out the latest odds on everything from the baby’s name to its weight.”

The enormous cuddly creations arrived at Buckingham Palace before heading on to the Houses of Parliament, and Kensington Palace. The final destination on the procession was St Mary’s hospital where the new royal baby will eventually be welcomed into the world.

The bookmakers are offering the bears as a present to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, as the perfect first teddies for their new arrival.

LONDON, 23rd December: As the average Brit gets ready to consume a gut busting 7,000 calories on Christmas Day – and pile on 6lbs by New Year — a crack team of food scientists recruited by William Hill have come up with a brilliant, healthy alternative.

Thanks to high tech kitchen know-how there’s no need to stuff yourself with the traditional lunch as well as festive favourites like mince pies because now you can enjoy all those flavours courtesy of an extraordinary layered liquid lunch that packs just 294 calories.

The culinary breakthrough came after bookmaker William Hill engaged food scientist Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart, who has spent her career working with top chefs, including a three year PhD focussed on creating innovative flavour and texture experiences for Heston Blumenthal to use in his restaurant The Fat Duck, and Miguel Toribio-Mateas, chairman of the British Association for Applied Nutrition & Nutritional Therapy (BANT).

They were asked to create a balanced, high carbohydrate, low glycaemic load meal that provides all the nutrition needed for a jockey to remain light, yet full of energy and sharply focused before a big race.

The festive feast will be a boon for jockeys preparing for the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton Park on 26 and 27 December. In the past many have had to restrict themselves to crackers and water for fear that seasonal indulgences would have them fail the weigh-in.

Using equipment commonly found in the modernist kitchen the meal consists of flavour extracts, foams and gels that are layered on top of each other so the diner can enjoy each individual taste as they progress through the meal.

And it is topped with a pancetta crisp It is served with an espresso-style shot of mince pie extract and a spoonful of powdered brandy butter – an additional 38 calories. Jon Ivan-Duke at William Hill, says, “Christmas is a time when we all want to let ourselves go and enjoy all the different foods on offer but the top jockeys can’t do that.

“Typically jockeys trying to make weight will eat a restricted calorie diet in the run up to a big race, so the traditional Christmas lunch was most definitely off the menu for those racing at the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton. The usual festive fare for jockeys riding on Boxing Day would be a slither of turkey, a couple of sprouts and a few water biscuits. Even then they will probably spend a couple of hours on race day in the sauna sweating off those last few pounds!”

Champion jockey A P McCoy who will be riding at the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton Park on Boxing Day agrees, “This is a great invention for jockeys who are struggling to make weight for the William Hill King George but still want to feel part of their family’s festive celebrations. I always used to feel a bit left out when they all started tucking in to their turkey so this year I am looking forward to enjoying the full flavours of Christmas lunch, without having to worry about the calories.”

Food scientist Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart says. “I am used to experimenting with tastes and textures but the brief from William Hill to prepare an appetizing meal that features all of the flavours of the traditional Christmas lunch but at a fraction of the calories was a challenge. I created a layered dish full of different flavours and textures that I hope will prove both delicious and visually appealing to our jockeys!”

Recipe: Place 40g cooked turkey in the bottom of a glass. Top with 40g homemade turkey stock, and leave in the fridge to set. (Note – depending on how concentrated your stock is, you may need to add a small amount of gelatine to the turkey stock to ensure that is sets solid). Rehydrate 10g dried mushrooms with 50g turkey stock, and then finely blend. Place turkey infused mushrooms on top of the gel. Add 15g of dehydrated Brussels sprouts (but you may want to keep a few aside to garnish the dish!). Prepare the carrot fluid gel by adding 1g of agar to 100g to carrot juice, bringing the liquid to the boil, leaving to set, and then blending with a hand blender. Add 60g of this mix to the layer of Brussels Sprouts. Top with 60g potato foam, which is made by pureeing 30g boiled potato with 15g semi skimmed milk and 15g water, and aerating the mix “with nitrous oxide” OR “in a cream whipper” Finish with 20g cranberry juice mixed with 0.5g soy lecithin, blended to create a foam. Add a slice of grilled pancetta or bacon to serve. To prepare the mince pie extract, add 30g mincemeat to 30g orange & mango juice and 60g water. Mix thoroughly and strain through muslin to collect the juice. Serve 40g in an the espresso cup. To make the powdered brandy butter, melt 2g butter, flavoured with brandy, and mix with 2g maltodextrin. Serve on a teaspoon alongside the mince pie infusion.